OTTAWA — While the Liberals maintain their 14-point lead over the Tories, it’s the boomers who are keeping Prime Minister Mark Carney in the top spot.
That’s according to Liaison Strategies’ weekly federal tracker poll, which has the Carney Liberals maintaining their 14-point lead over the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives.
According to Liaison’s David Valentin, Carney can thank older Canadians for his high approval ratings as Canada’s demographic divide continues to widen.
“While the Conservatives are essentially tied with the Liberals among voters under 35, the Liberals have built a massive advantage with voters over the age of 50,” he said.
Older Canadians still ‘elbows up’ over Carney
If an election were held today, 41% of respondents said they’d vote Liberal, compared to 27% for the Conservatives.
The federal NDP’s fortunes continue to plummet, tying for 6% nationally with the Quebec-only Bloc Quebecois, with the Green Party, the PPC and “other” bottoming out at just 2% support.
The undecided vote, however, remains at 14%.
Support for the Liberals is strongest in in the 50-64 year old age group at 48%, with 41% of Carney supporters aged 65 or over, 40% for those 35 to 49, and 36% among 18-34 year olds.
That younger age group is also the source of the strongest support for the Tories, at 34%.
Atlantic Canada continues to be Carney’s biggest refuge of support at 46%, followed by British Columbia with 47%, and Ontario with 44%.
Poilievre’s support is largely based in Alberta with 42%, followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan at 34%, and British Columbia at 31%.
Poilievre support lagging, but stabilizing
Carney, Valentin said, continues to command favourability polls, with his approval rating clocking in at 64%.
“This stability at the 64% mark, which has been reached in three of the last seven weeks, suggests a very solid and resilient base of support for the Liberal leader,” Valentin said.
“Despite minor fluctuations over the past year, he has consistently maintained a two-to-one approval-to-disapproval ratio, reflecting a durable personal brand as he leads his party to a significant national advantage.”
Poilievre’s 53% unfavourability rating continues to outpace his 38% approval rating, recovering from a slight dip late last month.
The poll was conducted among a random sample of 1,000 Canadians between March 9 and March 21, with a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
